Joe Mullin remembered his first car “and it was a lulu, a 1907, three-cylinder, two-cycle Elmore, sparked by six dry cells and with gas headlights. And it would go! “Frequently, on a level straight-away, my speedometer indicated 18 m.p.h. Very few horses overtook me and passed me on the road, partly because most of the roads were too narrow to allow one vehicle to pass another.”

Other early automobile owners were Virgil Hall with a Stanley Steamer, and Tom Gushee with a Model-T Ford. They loaded up their wives and friends, the women wrapped in dusters and veils and gloves to stave off the dust of the road, and journeyed through the countryside on Sunday afternoons.

These guys were the trailblazers; Virgil Hall was the town’s first automotive mechanic, Tom Gushee, a Beach merchant and postmaster, and Joe Mullin, the founder of the Lincolnville Telephone Company. They may have been a bit more daring than their conservative, farmer neighbors, as well as having more disposable cash. For most of the rest of the town, the horse, which came in all models, from the stolid working variety to the quick-stepping pacer, as well as the standard-issue, all-purpose driving horse, tractable and gentle.

Leigh Miller once had one of the sporty horses, handsome and quick, and it carried him through a blizzard to fetch the doctor in Morrill on the night his wife, Belle, decided to deliver their first child. On becoming a father, Leigh had to trade it in for a family model.

Leigh kept horses throughout his life, working in the woods in winter and in his fields in summer with a team of matched blacks. He kept their harness supple and the buckles polished. His daughter, Dorothy Miller Overlock, had an indelible picture in her mind of her father’s team pulling a loaded sled out of the woods, steam rising from their sweaty bodies, red plumes bobbing on their heads and shiny silver buckles on their harness, with Leigh standing on the sled, reins firmly in hand.

But when Leigh got his first automobile, a Model T, he mastered starting it, but not  stopping. When he arrived home in his brand new car the only way he could stop it was by turning into Belle’s vegetable garden, her pride and joy.

Will Pendleton’s first car was also a Model T, and he used it to haul the boxes of strawberries and raspberries he grew down to the Camden steam boat every summer afternoon. He kept a diagram of the gear-shifting sequence handy, referring to it as he drove. After he drove right through the back wall of his garage, his little granddaughter, Evelyn Brown Eilers, wasn’t allowed in the car until it was backed out into the road and pointing in the right direction. When Russ Carver finally got a tractor, his daughter, Doris Carver Delano, had to drive it for him because he had such trouble backing up.

And it wasn’t only the men who had trouble mastering gears and brakes and gas pedals. Ethel Heald, who could handle a horse and wagon just fine and often drove it into Camden, ended up in the front yard every time she tried to drive the truck.

Si Hardy tried to teach his wife, Lil Packard Hardy, to drive but after she took off a good “sheaf of shingles from the side of the tie-up” coming into the driveway, Si laughed so hard she never tried again.

from Staying Put in Lincolnville Maine, 1900-1950 (Available at Western Auto, Schoolhouse Museum  or Sleepy Hollow Rag Rugs )

This story came back to me one afternoon a couple of weeks ago as a crew of volunteers gathered to lower Joe Nickerson’s horse-drawn hayrake from the peak of daughter, Ruth Nickerson Felton’s barn. There it was, just where he’d put it when he was no longer haying, an eight foot wide contraption with foor-foot-tall wooden wheels, long shafts where the horse was harnessed, and the cast iron seat high above it all.

We were a crew of about a dozen; Ross Faneuf brought the ropes and tackle, along with a plan for lowering it. The rest of us – Bruce Bouldrey, Rosey Gerry, Harley (visiting from London), Ted Steele, Wally O’Brien, Cindy Dunham, Judy Papian, Pat Felton (Joe’s granddaughter) and me rigged ropes, lifted ladders, held ladders, pulled on ropes and removed logs.

Lois Lyman took photos, while Ruth watched the venerable old piece of her family’s history slowly creak down from its resting place, and finally get driven away on Rosey’s trailer. You can see the hayrake, minus its shafts, as they made it too big, in the Jackie Young Watts Open Air Museum on the Library grounds.

Who is on the Lincolnville Planning Board

This week’s featured town board/committee is the Planning Board. According to the town website the Planning Board consists of five voting members with staggered three-year terms and two alternates (appointed annually); it reviews land use applications (subdivision, commercial site plan, etc.) in accordance with the provisions of the Lincolnville Land Use Ordinance. 

The Planning Board also works in collaboration with the Land Use Committee to prepare amendments to the Land Use Ordinance. 

The Planning Board meets on the second and last Wednesdays of the month at the town office.  The meetings are televised on cable and can be viewed on Channel 22.

Current members are Lois Lyman, Chairman and Secretary, Shane Laprade, Vice Chair, Dorothy Lanphear, Ronald Moran, Scott Harrison, and Jay Foster, Alternate. 

Chairman Lois Lyman answered these questions: High Street and Searsmont Road residents, as well as all who commute from Searsmont and beyond, were happy to see “their” road finally opened.

DOT workers completed their work on a major culvert improvement on Searsmont Road/Route 173 just beyond the telephone company and United Christian Church, work that had closed the road for about a month, and sent people on what amounted to a 7-mile detour to get from their homes to almost wherever they were going. Covered-up detour signs are still up on Beach and Youngtown Roads, making residents of those areas nervous about what’s to come.

According to David Kinney: “Maine DOT is planning on a one day closure (during daylight hours) or perhaps two one-day closures on Route 173 between the Camden Road and Youngtown Road for small culvert replacements.  They had hoped to accomplish the work this summer, but it is now likely to be next year as the utility relocation has been slower than anticipated.  While the final decision to postpone has yet to be made, I believe at this point that  the closures will be delayed until next year.”

Phew!

Q: How long have you been on the PB?

A: I think Jay (Foster) precedes me on the board.  Jeff Leighton was chairman when I joined, and I think it was 2002 - that's 13 years so far - my current term ends in June, 2015.  Before that I was on the Land Use Committee starting in 1998, and on the Comprehensive Plan Committee after that  - so it does seem like forever!

Q: What is/are the most meaningful accomplishment(s) during your tenure?

A: Our philosophy has evolved to where we see our mission as helping people to comply with the standards, as opposed to finding fault.  I think many people don't realize that.  In the extremely rare case that we turn down an application, we document the reason. We have been suggesting and writing revisions to the Land Use Ordinance to make it easier for people to comply, to make the ordinance more flexible where conditions demand, and to streamline some of the processes.  We started keeping a list of things that needed changing almost as soon as I joined. We want the public to be aware and involved, so our policy is that if people care enough about an application to show up, they will be allowed to comment or ask questions before we deliberate - even if it's not a public hearing.

Q: What's the next "big thing" to come along for the PB?

A: Things have been relatively quiet in this economy, so there are no big applications coming up that we know of.  We are planning to submit three or four changes to the Land Use Ordinance (as above) to make certain expansions, changes of use, and some Shoreland Zone applications go more smoothly.

Once again, Five Towns Communities That Care (CTC)   is sponsoring “Guiding Good Choices”, a free parent workshop consisting of 5 sessions, each 2 hours long, on Tuesday nights beginning Oct. 21 through Nov. 18. The sessions will be held at Camden Hills Regional High School and run from 5:30 – 8 p.m.; since these sessions are aimed at busy parents with family obligations, dinner for the whole family is provided, as well as childcare, all free. Some of the topics covered include:

• The influence of parents in helping their kids avoid drugs and other unhealthy choices

• Setting guidelines, monitoring, and consequences

• Positive and effective family communications

• Building bonds by involving your children in the family

Co-facilitators of the workshop are Ed O’Brien, parent and LCSW, and Alex Owre, parent and Development Director for Five Town CTC. To register or for more information call 236-9800 or email. 

      The Connections program invites girls in Knox County and Lincolnville in grades 3, 4, and 5 and their dads, step-dads, uncles, grandfathers, or other significant males in their lives to attend three sessions -- October 9, 16, 23 at the Pen Bay “Y”, 6-8 p.m. -- for food, facts and fun. The focus of the free program is to have fun and provide information about issues such as not using tobacco or other substances, anti-bullying, increased physical activity, promote good nutrition, and bonding between parent and child. Each evening starts with a “Getting to Know You” activity, followed by a light healthy meal and a short discussion on making healthy choices. The remainder of the evening is spent playing non-competitive games and activities that everyone can participate in equally. Contact Nancy Laite,   or 236-6313, ext. 2.

A big frustration for those who like looking up their genealogy on the web is to come upon a lead to some promising records about your ancestor only to be stopped by the words “available on Ancestory.com”.

Unless you are a member of Ancestry.com, for a pretty hefty yearly fee, you can’t access those records. However, the Lincolnville Library has membership in it, and it’s free to anyone who wants to come in and use it. Bring your own laptop or use one of the library’s computers.

Not comfortable using a computer? Sheila or one of the other volunteer librarians will help you get started. Over the years I’ve found out quite a bit about my roots, and as an adoptee, I keep track of two families — my adoptive family and birth family. That’s a lot of ancestors! But since many leads have stopped me with those dreaded two words, I plan to spend some hours this winter out at the Library, finally cracking into – Ancestry.com!

Dwight Wass, owner of Lincolnville Fine Art Gallery at the Beach, says: “The gallery will be open through the fall season.  Our top artists this year are Jill Hoy, Kathleen Mack, Renete Caraballo, and Bill Hallett.  Twenty other Maine artists are represented here with paintings, sculptures and jewelry and pottery.  Also, stop by and check out our beach stones painted by Marge Olson with the proceeds going towards high school scholarships for Lincolnville graduates.  Hours 11-2 during the week and 11-5  weekends. Also, by appointment or chance.”

       As owners of a very rambunctious Golden Retriever, we find walking him along the road a challenge, especially first thing after leaving the house as he’s so full of energy he could pull us over. See the photo here for a neat trick to control a pulling dog. It works best with a rather long leash. Clip it to the collar, then wrap it around the dog just behind the front legs, and back through the leash, sort of like a half hitch. Fritz doesn’t pull nearly as hard; when he gets tired, usually on the way back home, we can undo it and hold the leash normally.

Here’s a bit more of Sandy Delano’s memories of his grandparents, Russ and Jennie Carver and their farm at 504 Youngtown Road:

        Grandpa raised pigs and each fall; they too would find their way into the basement where they were kept as smoked bacon or ham or salt pork. The salt pork barrel was kept at the foot of the cellar stairs. A large stone on a large plate kept the pork immersed in the brine. I was often sent to the cellar to get a piece of salt pork. I was not allowed to use the very sharp knife stuck in the beam over the barrel to cut the pork, but brought up a chunk to be cut and returned to the barrel, placing the plate and stone back in place.

         The salt pork had many uses in the kitchen and elsewhere. On one occasion I was sent to retrieve some salt pork for Grandpa who had stuck a pitchfork completely through his boot and foot. He had lots of blood all over the place, but no pain because of an injury received in France while moving a wagon, which left him without any feeling in his leg. He removed his boots and socks, soaked the foot in warm water and Epsom salts for a while, and then taped a piece of the salt pork over the wound, put on some clean socks and his boot and went back to work.

         Grandpa’s leg gave him problems from time to time. On another occasion my Dad and I went into the woods above the farm looking for Grandpa. We heard him cutting and got into a clearing just in time to see a large pine tree he was chopping  start to fall. Grandpa started to run away, but not knowing where his leg was at all times he stumbled and fell and the top branches of the tree landed on him and covered him completely. A minute later he crawled out, greeted us with a wave, and crawled back under the tree to retrieve his ax and hat, which he had lost in the fall.

         That winter I was able to ride back up into the woods on a logging sled towed by Grandpa’s horse, named Charlie. I got to select a name for the horse when Charlie arrived to replace the old horse whose name, I think was Champ or Lady. Champ might have been my Aunt Lucille’s dog’s name. I waited for Grandpa to roll several large logs onto the sled, by hand, and secure them with stakes on each side. We then sat on the logs and had Charlie haul us from the woods. It was cold and snowy, but what great fun.

       Grandpa used his horse to mow the fields, cultivate the gardens, haul the hayrack, and provide the power to run the large hayfork in the barn. I still have a scar on my inner left thigh received from an extra pitchfork stuck into the back of the hayrack. When my cousin Patty Tibbets attempted to haul me up onto the rack for the ride to the barn, I got stuck and ruined my 1^st pair of pants without a bib and shoulder straps. I was probably about five years old at the time. A trip to Dr. Millington in Camden and some clamps and stitches and a tetanus shot solved the problem. An ice cream on the way home helped even more.

 To be included in This Week in Lincolnville, contact Diane, ragrugs@midcoast.com with events, family milestones, wildlife sightings, anything to do with our town.